from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
noun A state of uncertainty or perplexity. synonym: predicament.
from The Century Dictionary.
noun A state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation, or puzzlement; a pickle; a predicament.
To put into a quandary; bring into a state of uncertainty or difficulty.
To be in a difficulty or uncertainty; hesitate.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
noun A state of difficulty or perplexity; doubt; uncertainty.
transitive verb obsolete To bring into a state of uncertainty, perplexity, or difficulty.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
noun A state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement; a pickle; a predicament.
noun A dilemma, a difficult decision or choice.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
noun state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options
noun a situation from which extrication is difficult especially an unpleasant or trying one
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Origin unknown.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
16th century. Origin unknown; perhaps a dialectal corruption (simulating a word of Latin origin with suffix -ary) of wandreth ("evil, plight, peril, adversity, difficulty"), from Middle English wandreth, from Old Norse vandræði ("difficulty, trouble"), from vandr ("difficult, requiring pains and care").
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Examples
The United States should encourage the Arab League to not only endorse the continuation of direct talks at this critical juncture, but also be more creative, take the initiative and change the dynamic of the negotiations regardless of how the settlement quandary is resolved.
The United States should encourage the Arab League to not only endorse the continuation of direct talks at this critical juncture, but also be more creative, take the initiative and change the dynamic of the negotiations regardless of how the settlement quandary is resolved.
If Larry Johnson's situation gets resolved, the quarterback quandary is successfully solved and the defense continues to improve, a fan would have reason for cautious optimism.
Part of West Africa's quandary is that although its population belts are horizontal, with habitation densities increasing as one travels south away from the Sahara and toward the tropical abundance of the Atlantic littoral, the borders erected by European colonialists are vertical, and therefore at cross-purposes with demography and topography.
Is there an adjectival form of "quandary'? Perhaps "quandrous" or "quandarous?" I seem to remember encountering the first choice somewhere, but I have not found it in an online or bound lexicon.
I can find no adjectival version of quandary. To my surprise the OED reports that it can be used as a verb in the passive voice and supplies examples such as, “2007 www.rolandmc.com 23 Feb. (O.E.D. Archives) I'm seriously quandaried by the need to create and choose a MySpace name.”
gzmolekule commented on the word quandary
Is there an adjectival form of "quandary'? Perhaps "quandrous" or "quandarous?" I seem to remember encountering the first choice somewhere, but I have not found it in an online or bound lexicon.
April 20, 2018
qms commented on the word quandary
I can find no adjectival version of quandary. To my surprise the OED reports that it can be used as a verb in the passive voice and supplies examples such as, “2007 www.rolandmc.com 23 Feb. (O.E.D. Archives) I'm seriously quandaried by the need to create and choose a MySpace name.”
April 20, 2018